Hanjin Group, whose shipping affiliate filed for court receivership this week, fell five notches in market capitalization rankings this year among the top 30 listed conglomerates, according to the Korea Exchange on Thursday.The group, whose businesses range from hotel operations to flag carrier, had 4.39 trillion won ($3.98 billion) in market cap as of Wednesday, shedding 274.2 billion won. The loss put the group at No. 28 in the rankings, down from No. 23 at the end of last year.The conglomerat

South Korea's consumer prices increased at the slowest pace in 16 months, rekindling concerns of possible deflation in Asia's fourth-largest economy saddled with a protracted slump in domestic demand and falling exports, government data showed Thursday.The country's consumer price index rose 0.4 percent last month from a year earlier, staying below the 1 percent level for four straight months, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The August figure also marked the lowest on-year gai

South Korea will introduce a new license plate for electric vehicles before the end of next month, the government said Thursday, in an apparent effort to further promote environmentally friendly cars.The new license plate will be picked from four designs in a public vote that will last 10 days until next Thursday, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."The government will decide which design will be used as a new license plate for electric cars in the popularity vote to

 A Seoul court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the government and dismissed a compensation suit filed by South Koreans who survived the 1945 US atomic bombings in Japan.The Seoul Northern District Court turned down the suit filed by 141 victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, seeking 10 million won ($9,000) in compensation for each victim.They said the government neglected its duty to take active measures against Japan to settle the issue by referring the matter to an arbitration c

Prosecutors on Wednesday summoned an incumbent judge over allegations he received kickbacks from a local businessman who is at the center of a lobbying scandal that is rocking the country's legal sector.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it called in the judge, identified only by his surname Kim, to ask questions over suspicions that he bought a used car owned by Jung Woon-ho, former chief of local cosmetics brand Nature Republic, at a below market price, and even got back some

Sales of lottery tickets in South Korea rose 6.9 percent in the first six months of 2016 from a year earlier, on rising demand for chance games amid a prolonged economic slump, government data showed Wednesday.Lottery sales stood at 1.89 trillion won ($1.69 billion) in the January-June period, up from the previous year's 1.77 trillion won, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.The first-half amount accounted for 50.3 percent of the 2016 sales target of 3.76 trillion

About 200 people have been infected with hepatitis C in southern South Korea, an official said Wednesday, prompting health authorities to conduct an epidemiological investigation.Some of the people had received dental treatment from unlicensed dentists in Sunchang, some 360 kilometers south of Seoul. The local official said this could be to blame for the outbreak.Repeated calls to South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seeking comment went unanswered.The latest outbreak came si